Wednesday 16 March 2016 17:07, UK
Will Greenwood explains why he is hoping England face an in-form French side in Paris this weekend, as they seek their first Grand Slam since 2003.
I was delighted for Scotland and how they performed in their victory over France, but I can't deny that a selfish part of me was hoping Les Blues would be coming into this weekend's game against England with something to play for.
If they had beaten Scotland on Sunday, and needed something in the region of a 20-point win over England to claim the title, then it would have made things very interesting for Eddie Jones and his players.
Heading to Paris has never been an easy prospect for an England side, and from a purely developmental point of view for this team, I hope that continues to be the case.
"If you didn't know how hard we had to work as a team for that win, perhaps it will help to point out that Robert Sidoli won man of the match despite being on the losing team."
I know it seems ungrateful, given that the side has just delivered a Six Nations title, but I remember from our 2003 Grand Slam-winning season just how much we were tested by each team, and how much that benefited our preparation going to Australia for the World Cup later in the year.
The game against Ireland that year was a title-decider on the final weekend. The history books are very flattering in that it shows we won 42-6, which suggests we had an easy day of it, but that couldn't be further from the truth.
If you checked the half-time score, and were to watch the last ten minutes of the first half, you'd think 'How are England still in this?'
We hit our straps in the final quarter, so yes the last 15 minutes were enjoyable, but let me tell you, that changing room at half-time was full of players realising we needed to put a shift in, if we wanted to win. An Irish kitchen sink was thrown at us that afternoon.
In the Wales game in round two we went to the Millennium Stadium with a settled side, and finished the game with so many disruptions that there's nobody I know who can remember the backline that finished the game for us.
The point is that the scoreline of 26-9 in Cardiff tells a very shallow story of what happened that day. We were made to work hard for the win and that gave us more to work with when we went into training the next week.
If you didn't know how hard we had to work as a team for that win, perhaps it will help to point out that Robert Sidoli won man of the match, despite being on the losing team.
But we were a better side for those games, and not just because we won them. After several years of struggling, that Six Nations was a turning point for an England team that had so often lost games that were hanging in the balance.
A Six Nations title is the perfect start to Jones' career in charge, but more than anything I have been encouraged by how unsatisfied he is with the title alone. He wants more silverware and he wants that silverware to be a reflection of consistent England dominance.
If England are going to match the big teams of the southern hemisphere then they need for the other sides in the Six Nations to be at their best too. In the short term, the players in the current England camp would be forgiven for hoping for a classically inconsistent French side so that they can claim the Grand Slam in comfort.
But in the long term, which includes a trip to Australia in June, England will benefit far more from being tested by a French side in full cry.
My utopian outcome from this weekend would be England winning the Grand Slam after figuring out how to beat a good French team by coming back from behind.
When France gets on top at the Stade de France each player grows almost visibly. To see England survive that sort of test and come out with a win would be the most pleasing way to claim the Grand Slam, and if that happens, Eddie Jones will have added more than just trophies to England rugby.
